Furriers fight 'anti-fur' coat tags
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) - Furriers in this well-heeled city are
optimistic that voters will reject a measure that would require merchants
to attach tags to coats and stoles explaining how the animals died. Measure
A is the only issue on Tuesday's ballot, and many customers at Somper Furs
are angry over the $60,000 the city is spending on the special election,
said store manager Douglas Fine. The proposal is "one more attempt by the
extreme animal activists to generate publicity to hurt the fur industry,"
Fine said Monday. The credit card-sized tags on fur products costing over
$50 would tell would-be buyers that the pelts came from animals that may
have been electrocuted, gassed, poisoned, clubbed, stomped, drowned or
caught in steel-jaw leg traps, or had their necks broken. Violators could
be fined $100 per item. The ordinance would exempt fur makers who use
humane methods, such as lethal injection administered by a licensed
veterinarian. ###
